Boreal Sea-Bear

“Neither I nor the four flippers of the sea-bear of the Boreal Ocean have been able to solve the riddle of life.”

Comte de Lautréamont

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Boreal Sea-Bear
No. Enc.: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 40' (120')
Armor Class: 6/13
Hit Dice: 8
Attacks: 3 (2 claws, bite)
Damage: 1d6/1d6/1d8+2
Save: F4
Morale: 9


Massive aquatic mammals of the polar regions there are unconfirmed reports of specimens reaching in excess of 16' in length from snout to rear flipper-tip. They are exquisitely adapted to life in the cold waters of the polar oceans where they prey upon any and everything that comes within reach of their fore-claws. Fearless and mighty, they are notorious for capsizing or sinking ships that stray into their territory.

Boreal Sea-bears may be related to the White Beasts, but this is doubtful as Boreal Sea-Bears possess two pair of flippers and one pair of powerful fore-limbs, while the White Beasts are merely bipedal. Since nothing has been conclusively proven or dis-proven at this time most authorities prefer to hedge their bets.

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There are several unconfirmed reports of a Boreal Sea-Bear making its lair deep within the Lidenbrock Reservoir...

Purple Clouds in Wermspittle

"The monstrosities of the Outer Circle are malignant towards all that we consider most desirable, just in the same way a shark or a tiger may be considered malignant, in a physical way, to all that we consider desirable. They are predatory - as all positive force is predatory. They have desires regarding us which are incredibly more dreadful to our minds when comprehended than an intelligent sheep would consider our desires towards its own carcass. They plunder and destroy to satisfy lusts and hungers exactly as other forms of existence plunder and destroy to satisfy their lusts and hungers. And the desire of these monsters is chiefly, if not always, for the psychic entity of the human."

The Hog, by W. H. Hodgson

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Purple Cloud
(Worldkillers, Monstrosities of the Outer Circle)

Malevolent, virulent and massive, Greater Purple Clouds operate upon a planetary scale. They gorge upon death and grow bloated as they loom malevolently over the ruins of worlds they have killed with their toxic fumes. These vast, aerial horrors expand and spread upwards into the higher regions of the atmosphere, strangling an entire world in their gaseous grip. Those portions of a Greater Purple Cloud that can be encountered upon the poisoned surface of a given world are crude extensions of the greater cloud above, and act as the cloud's proxies or limbs. The main body of the Greater Cloud remains far, far above and out of reach of most attempts to contact or attack them.

Inevitably, as the Purple Clouds finally conquer a given world, they relent a tiny bit and allow a few unlucky souls to survive their poisonous apocalypse. These survivors become breeding stock for a race of slaves bound to the worship and service of the Purple Clouds and are alleged to be the progenitors of the so-called 'Kings of the Dead Worlds', also known as 'Desert Fathers,' as well as the Purple Horde and the Ledaan. This may be inaccurate, however, based upon the hotly disputed findings of the Kurtz Commission who knowingly and willfully violated several extra-territorial agreements to open negotiations with the self-declared King of Captivon, despite not having any established authority to do such a thing. Captivon is a desolate wasteland and one of the Dead Worlds in close proximity to Wermspittle via a Weak Point. In the furor over how the Kurtz Commission may or may not have over-stepped their bounds, more and more leaders as well as scholars are realizing that we know far too little about these vast, implacable Horrors. There have been calls to form an academic board of review to collect and manage all further investigations in the nature of the Purple Clouds. The Security Council is rumored to have formed a special task force to begin experimenting with ways to combat these things...hopefully, before it is too late...

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Prior to the fall of the Western Keep of the Inner Ramparts, there was a specialized corps of Forward Observers dedicated to the study of Purple Clouds. Most of their records and files were left behind when the Guard House was abandoned in the midst of a terrible fire following a suspicious Black Smoke attack that is suspected to have originated from within the Main Keep itself.

Since then, the few reports recovered from the various Dead Worlds in closest proximity to Wermspittle by Foragers, Scavenger-scholars and others regarding Purple Clouds agree on only three things:

1. Whatever they are, they are purple and seem to be composed mostly of some sort of toxic vapor, possibly cyanide or something related;
2. The toxic gasses emitted by the Purple Clouds tend to stink of spoilt peaches or almonds, the scent is said to be unmistakable and one should seek to avoid it at all costs;
3. They appear to be actively hostile and possibly sentient in some bizarre fashion, leading some scholars into much pointless conjecture as to how this might be possible.

More study of these monstrous things is desperately needed, but so far the will, and the funds, have been lacking. However, since it was conclusively proven that there is in fact a direct relationship between the Purple Wisps, Deep Purple Smog, Purple Haze and the Purple Clouds, more funds are expected to be forthcoming...especially since there are signs that more than one Purple Cloud may be moving from world to world through Weak Points or some other means...

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Minor Miasmas  |  Purple Wisps | Purple Haze | Deep Purple Smog |  Purple Rain 
Purple Clouds   |   Purple Horde
Srumachis

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Source: The Purple Clouds are horrific planetkiller Outer Monstrosities inspired by M.P. Shiel's The Purple Cloud, with a nod to William Hope Hodgson. You can find a copy of The Purple Cloud via Project Gutenberg, if you're interested, or you might like to try to listen to the audiobook version via LibriVox. The Hog, quoted above, is another of Hodgson's Carnacki stories and a version of it can be found at eBooks Adelaide, among many other places online or in print.

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Hobyahs (Red Bestiary)

ONCE there was an old man and woman and a little girl, and they all lived in a house made of hemp-stalks. -- and one night the Hobyahs came and said; 'Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp-stalks, eat up the old man and woman, and carry off the little girl.'

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Hobyahs
No. Enc.: 1d4+2
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60' (30')
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 2+1
Attacks: 1
Damage: 2d4 (bite) or by weapon
Save: F1
Morale: 4

Cowardly and dim-witted, always hungry, but incredibly afraid of even the smallest of dogs, Hobyahs would almost merit some shred of pity upon their plight. Almost. Those who have attempted to show charity towards these wicked little things have almost invariably wound up getting eaten by them.

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Inspirational Source: Hobyahs appear in More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Hobyahs are the ancestral enemies of Thumblings and they only rarely deal with Todtenhilzig, whom they fear almost as much as dogs. There is a first-level spell for summoning a clutch of Hobyahs in circulation, but most of the time it is considered somewhat gauche to pass it off when trading for something better, though it can be useful for playing pranks upon the unwary or clueless, especially around dogs...

Deep Purple Smog (Red Bestiary)

"...infectious diseases, as we all know, have spread beyond limit; in several towns the police seem to have disappeared, and, in nearly all, every vestige of decency; the results following upon the sudden release of the convicts appear to be monstrous in the respective districts; and within three short months Hell seems to have acquired this entire planet, sending forth Horror, like a rabid wolf, and Despair, like a disastrous sky, to devour and confound her..."

The Purple Cloud
by M. P. Shiel

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Deep Purple Smog
Malevolent forces of rampant moral decay, grandiose delusion and pernicious toxicity, Deep Purple Smog is a constant threat within the tunnels, sewers and Low Streets of Wermspittle, spurring the formation of  public Smog Shelters and the Smog Bells set atop heavy metal platforms at strategic points along the major streets and avenues.

A typical Smog Event lasts for 1d4 hours, during which time an area ranging from a few dozen square feet to a space encompassing several blocks becomes occluded and murky with normal fog that eventually takes on a purplish appearance as the Deep Purple Smog mixes and mingles with it. In most instances, there are roughly twenty minutes to reach shelter or to get out of the area affected once the Smog Bells begin to sound the alarm. Many people report smelling something like burned molasses, both smoky and incredibly sweet, right before a Smog Event, however this remains anecdotal and is not considered a safe nor reliable method for detecting the onset of the Smog.

Those caught in the Deep Purple Smog must make a Save or are effectively blinded and quickly become disoriented as sounds tend to echo and distort oddly in the Smog. The smog itself is poisonous and intoxicating, causing 1d4 physical and 1d4 morale damage each round. Those exposed can attempt to resist the effects of the Deep Purple Smog by making a Save for either the physical or the morale damage, a successful Save reducing that particular damage type by half, however they then become blinded and disoriented by the swirling purple vapors that provoke a violent, ecstatic response causing those affected to suffer intense delusions, lowered inhibitions and a reversion to highly irrational base instincts. Emotions are intensified, all the repressed and suppressed contents of the unconscious are vomited forth and people become howling, gibbering, screaming and laughing orgiastic mobs as debased and debauched as they are destructive. The sheer utter madness and raw horror that takes place during these Events is beyond belief and mercifully takes place behind the swirling, billowing masses of richly tinted vapors that obscure such things from the view of those who huddle together within the shelters or other places of refuge.

Purple Amber repels all forms of purple miasmas.

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There are sacraments of evil as well as of good about us, and we live and move to my belief in an unknown world, a place where there are caves and shadows and dwellers in twilight. It is possible that man may sometimes return on the track of evolution, and it is my belief that an awful lore is not yet dead...

The Great God Pan
by Arthur Machen

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A Temporary Mob...
Anyone having their Morale reduced to zero while within the Deep Purple Smog becomes a Smog Thrall until their morale is restored to normal, either by spell, potion or device. Morale damage inflicted by the Deep Purple Smog is recovered at one third the normal rate (3 hours to regain 1 point). During the time of their Thralldom, the victim is under the control of the Deep Purple Smog. Those taken over by the Smog as a Thrall gain an additional Save for every half hour they spend outside the bounds of a Smog Event. Former thralls retain no conscious memory of their servitude, but often report vivid and disturbing nightmares and flashbacks. They also revert back to their Thralldom state if reduced to zero Morale and then failing a Save during the next six weeks.

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Smog Thralls (1d4) [AL N, MV 120', AC 7, HD 1+, #AT 1, DG 1d6, SV F1, ML 12 (While within Deep Purple Smog)/3 (Outside Smog). Special:  Immune to Charm, Hypnosis, Sleep and ESP effects, however they are extremely susceptible to illusions, phantasmal forces and ventriloquism. Smog Thralls gibber and gnash their teeth, roll their eyes, and are prone to remove most of their clothing and armor in order to run about mostly naked. They attack with bare hands and their teeth.]

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An Involuntary Congregation...
Those unlucky souls who are reduced to zero hit points by exposure to the Deep Purple Smog disappear with the Smog. It is believed that they reappear at each subsequent Smog Event as a sort of horribly transformed congregation of undead figures who serve the whims and desires of the Deep Purple Smog forever more.

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Purple Congregants (1d6) [AL N, MV 90', AC 6, HD 3+, #AT 1, DG 2d4, SV F3+, ML 12 (While within Deep Purple Smog)/3 (Outside Smog). Special: Take 1 point of damage per round outside the vapors of a Smog Event. Turned as a 4HD Undead creature. Immune to Charm, Hypnosis, Sleep and ESP effects, however they are extremely susceptible to illusions, phantasmal forces and ventriloquism. Anyone actually seeing a Purple Congregant must Save or suffer 1d6 Morale Damage and run away screaming at full movement rate for as 3+ rounds (based on HD of the creature).]

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A Blasphemous Communion...
Various competing cults seek out the frenzied gnosis their leaders preach about and goad them into experiencing as a rite of passage. Most such demagogues refrain from descending into the miasmic inferno they venerate, but there are those driven mad with devotion who embrace the Deep Purple Smog body and soul...and it is rumored that some of these become transformed in the midst of their demented adorations, becoming twisted purple things that only ever come forth during the vaporous cacophony of a Smog Event.

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Purple Proselytes (1d4) [AL N, MV 30', AC 4, HD 5+, #AT 1, DG 3d4, SV CL5+, ML 12 (While within Deep Purple Smog). Special: Immune to Charm, Hypnosis, Sleep and ESP effects, however they are extremely susceptible to illusions, phantasmal forces and ventriloquism. Regenerate 1 hit point per minute while within bounds of a Smog Event, however, they are automatically destroyed if they leave the bounds of a Smog Event for any reason. Cannot be Turned, only Destroyed as a 7 HD Undead creature. They can divide all damage they inflict between physical or morale damage as they will. They have the spell-casting and other abilities of a Cleric at a level half their current HD. There are rumors that these beings acquire a number of exceptionally vicious spells by way of their devotion and connection to the Deep Purple Smog...]

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Survivor Guilt
Not everyone dies, is driven mad, or becomes a slave of the Deep Purple Smog. In fact, quite a few survive the effects of a Smog Event, though none who have tasted the pungent aerial-liquor of these malign miasmas walk away unscathed. Those who make it through a Smog Event retain no conscious memory of what occurred within the billowing purple miasma, but each survivor carries a nagging sense of nameless, wordless, ambiguous guilt that worries away at them, tainting their days with a persistent melancholy and causing them to suffer a -1 penalty on all Saves versus mind affecting spells, effects or items and a permanent reduction of -1 to their Morale.

Merciful Memory Loss
Clairvoyance, Remote Viewing, ESP and all such forms of spells, telepathy, empathy and so on do not function within the area affected by the Deep Purple Smog. Hypnosis, Mesmerism, Phrenological Surgery and related techniques cannot recover the memories of those who stumble out of the last gaseous tatters of a Smog Event. Whatever happens within the Deep Purple Smog is indelibly imprinted within the psyche and soul of its victims, but it is not something they can ever share or describe. It remains a very personal thing that no words can ever adequately describe or capture. It is this elusively inexpressible quality of the experience that drives Yellow Journalists, Accursed Poets and others to willfully enter Smog Events in order to attempt to be the first person to successfully describe, explain or capture the essence of the thing for posterity, and their eternal fame. Despite many a misguided attempt, none have succeeded to this day.

It Leaves a Mark...
Those who survive the Deep Purple Smog are often marked by their experience in a physical manner, in addition to the psychic scars they bear. Some exhibit a faint purplish tint or streaks in their hair or upon their skin, others have had their teeth turned vivid purple. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to this process and it may in fact be entirely random.

Lingering Marks of Purple Smog Exposure

d8	Mark	Effect	Duration
1	Teeth turn light purple.	-1 Penalty to Reaction Roll.	Save (1d4 days) or Permanent.
2	Streak of vivid purple in hair.	Possible social stigma. Gain +1 bonus to all Saves within Smog Events.	Save (1d4 weeks) or Permanent.
3	Small, easy to cover-up splotches of purplish discoloration on skin.	-1 penalty to CHAR if attempting to hide the discolorations, +1 on all Saves if left exposed.	Save (2d6 weeks) or Permanent.
4	Most of one limb is discolored by a distinctive purple mottling.	-1 to all Saves within area of effect of Smog Events, +1 bonus to all saves on outside.	Save (3d6 days) or Permanent.
5	All your finger and toe nails take on a lustrous purple coloration.	Gain clairvoyant ability to predict Smog Events up to 1d4 hours ahead of time.	Save (3d6 Weeks) or Permanent.
6	Lips and tongue become dark purple.	Must make Save each time they wake up or speech is garbled into some unintelligible gibberish.	Effect persists for 1d6 days.
7	Majority of skin turns purple.	Become invisible within Smog Events, however retains a dim purplish glimmer in normal darkness making Hide in Shadows impossible.	Save (2d6 days) or Permanent.
8	Blood becomes purple.	Immune to Morale Damage from all Miasmas, +1 on all Saves versus miasma-effects, take only half damage from Miasmas, gain ability to Turn Miasmas as Cleric one level below current level.	Save (3d6 days) or Permanent.

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"The time would be easy to know, for then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all the earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom.

The Call of Cthulhu
by H. P. Lovecraft

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Centers of Pestilence
At the end of a Smog Event the swirling vapors do not disperse like most normal miasmas, but rather the Deep Purple Smog coalesces and recedes back to some central point where it condenses down into a gritty, granular purplish residue that settles like snow over a small section of some alley, back-street or neglected avenue. This dense, richly colorful material exudes a foul stench that exacerbates all infections, toxins and diseases, causing them to become twice as virulent as usual and inflicting a -1 penalty on all Saves versus disease, poison or similar things within a 20' radius. This stuff lingers for weeks, if not months, in places where it isn't exposed to sunlight or washed away by the rain. It is rumored that the longer a patch of this purple residue is allowed to fester and rot in the shadows, the more toxic the fumes it exudes and the greater the area it can affect with various forms of mysterious illnesses. Those areas where this sort of residue have become a persistent problem are designated 'Sick Spots,' and are usually quarantined by local authorities. Daring bands of medical adventurers have isolated more than six dozen different strains of pestilential residue retrieved from various sick spots where strange fevers, peculiar infections and bizarre afflictions have been reported. Some of these professionals, and quite a few enthusiastic and enterprising amateurs have attempted to come up with serums, pills and strange devices intended to mitigate the effects of the sick spots, combat the various forms of residue, or to provide relief to those suffering the lingering after-effects of exposure to these horrid hazards of the dim and neglected spaces.

The purple residue granules have sometimes been used in the creation of various forms of poison gas, skin irritants, psychoactive serums, purple powder and similar weapons by Cranley-Essen Chemowerks prior to the outbreak of hostilities between Pruztia and Franzikan Empire. There used to be a few attempts to research non-toxic/non-weaponized applications of the Deep Purple Smog residue, but those programs lapsed due to a lack of support or funding.

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Sick Spots [Area of Effect: 10-40' radius, All forms of healing are reduced in effectiveness by half; all poisons, toxins, diseases and similar things are twice as effective as normal; all Saves suffer a -1 penalty. Cause Disease, Sicken, Breath of Pestilence and related spells become permanent environmental effects on a roll of 18-20 on a d20. All Cause Wounds spells gain a 30% chance to become infected.]

Purple Residue [AL N, MV n/a (Static), AC 5, HD 4+, #AT 1, DG (Special), SV F8+, ML n/a (Mindless). Special: Cause 1d6 damage on touch. Exude toxic fumes that produce Sick Spots (see above).]

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Up From the Depths
The Deep Purple Smog originates deep underground, possibly within one of the pocket-caverns adjacent to the Hardwigg, Wysession or Lidenbrock Deep Reservoirs, but attempts to verify this have been unsuccessful due to interference by the Sewer Militia who control the Hardwigg and Wysession Reservoirs, and the Unterkorps who have laid claim to the Lidenbrock Resevoir. Neither group has been willing to allow independent expeditions to examine the perimeter caverns and chambers surrounding these very strategic areas. Seers working under the auspices of the Office of Independent Inquiry, a public-private partnership between a defunct governmental agency established under the Second Pruztian Occupation and the Academy, have reportedly uncovered a completely other and previously unsuspected point of origin for the Purple Clouds and all their derivatives, including the Deep Purple Smog. Details have not been forthcoming, possibly due to some sort of inter-departmental academic squabble.

A recent daring raid on the O.I.I. offices by Yellow Journalists has made several dozen previously classified files open to the reading public. One of which, labelled 'Purple Veil,' has been featured in a weekly series of articles detailing the efforts of a previously covert group of adventurers known as the Fabulous Five who have not been heard from since leaving to investigate mysterious ruins in a possible 'fourth reservoir.' The newspaper accounts are crammed with excess hyperbole and wild speculation, as always, but could there really be a fourth such reservoir? Could this be the birth-place of the various purple-tinted miasmas?

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Minor Miasmas  |  Purple Wisps | Purple Haze | Deep Purple Smog |  Purple Rain 
Lesser Purple Clouds | Greater Purple Clouds
Srumachis

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Sources of inspiration: Deep Purple Smog was inspired by M.P. Shiel's The Purple Cloud, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Poison Belt, and The Comet by W. E. B. DuBois...with a particularly distinctive guitar riff playing in the background. You can find a copy of The Purple Cloud via Project Gutenberg, if you're interested, or you might like to try to listen to the audiobook version via LibriVox. The Poison Belt is the second Professor Challenger story and is also available at Wikisource. The Comet is included in Dark Water: Voices From Within the Veil available at Project Gutenberg. All three stories are highly recommended.

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Purple Wisps

...I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes. The moral effect should be so good that the loss of life should be reduced to a minimum. It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gasses: gasses can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected...

Winston Churchill: departmental minutes
(Churchill papers: 16/16)
12 May 1919 War Office

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Purple Wisps (Vile Vapors)
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 10' (gaseous form)
Armor Class: 7 (Cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons)
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4 per round due to poison
Save: F2
Morale: 11

Silent but deadly little miasmas, Purple Wisps reek of rancid peaches, leaving behind a powerful stench of burnt peaches that lingers wherever they've poisoned the air in a roughly 10' radius with their toxic exudations. They tend to lurk at the terminus of dead end streets or cul de sacs, drifting along disused by-ways and alleys, looming over forgotten stairs and the like, where they fester in their own hate and malice.

Purple Wisps are deplorable, despicable things, seemingly bent on the destruction of all life, however they have been known to enter into unholy alliances with those members of the Purple Horde who have entered into a pact with them by way of certain proscribed rituals known only among the Desert Fathers and the peculiar sect known as 'The Breathless' of the Ledaan. One such ritual is known as the Pending Exhalation and it allows the person submitting to it to breathe in a Purple Wisp and carry the vile thing deep within their lungs, gaining a number of special abilities in exchange for acting as a host to the foul being, including the ability to spew forth the Purple Wisp as a final act of contrition.

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Minor Miasmas  |  Purple Wisps | Purple Haze | Deep Purple Smog |  Purple Rain 
Lesser Purple Clouds | Greater Purple Clouds
Srumachis

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Source of Inspiration: Purple Wisps are inspired by M.P. Shiel's The Purple Cloud. You can find a copy of The Purple Cloud via Project Gutenberg, if you're interested, or you might like to try to listen to the audiobook version via LibriVox. There was a Purple Wisp encountered in Episode 86 of Bujilli...when Ahven made use of the Pending Exhalation to poison Leeja...

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Dreaming Nettle-Jelly (Red Bestiary)

I saw nothing moving, in earth or sky or sea. The green slime on the rocks alone testified that life was not extinct. A shallow sandbank had appeared in the sea and the water had receded from the beach. I fancied I saw some black object flopping about upon this bank, but it became motionless as I looked at it, and I judged that my eye had been deceived, and that the black object was merely a rock. The stars in the sky were intensely bright and seemed to me to twinkle very little.

As I stood sick and confused I saw again the moving thing upon the shoal—there was no mistake now that it was a moving thing—against the red water of the sea. It was a round thing, the size of a football perhaps, or, it may be, bigger, and tentacles trailed down from it; it seemed black against the weltering blood-red water, and it was hopping fitfully about...

The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells

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Dreaming Nettle-Jellies
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (gaseous form)
Armor Class: 7 (Cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons)
Hit Dice: 1+
Attacks: 1d6
Damage: 1d6 per tentacle, + Poison (Save or suffer Paralysis for 1d4 rounds)
Save: MU 2
Morale: 4

Once they hunted shellfish and insects along the littoral zones of the blood-red seas of a distant world that was all but dead, veiled-over by the raging storms of a vast Purple Clouds that poisoned the air so that few other creatures could still breathe. The Dreaming Nettle-Jellies breathed-in the toxic vapors emitted by the Purple Clouds overhanging their seas and those that survived adapted, incorporating the poison into their stinging cells. They have followed the Purple Clouds across one world after another, dreaming their inscrutable dreams and forging subtle telepathic empires of emotionally-charged symbols and richly cultivated memory beneath ceaseless purple skies.

Their extremely pliable flesh is smoky, almost translucent, when fully extended, it takes on a deep, rich black when fully contracted. Each of their twenty-four primary tentacles is covered with thousands of stinging cells and end in long, tapering needle-like talons. They have a second set of 8-12 oral tentacles ringing their centrally-located mouths that they use only to feed themselves. These plumper, stubbier tentacles lack the talon-tips, but are covered with even more virulent stinging cells (inflict double damage, Save at -2 or suffer Paralysis for 1d4 rounds). The outer tentacles have the capability to manipulate objects, but few of them remember how to use simple tools. Instead they prefer to rely upon their stinging cells and their psychic abilities as they flit about using an innate form of limited levitation.

Nettle-Jellies are blind, but their sensory nodes are very acutely aware of vibrations, magnetism and changes in ambient light, making it very difficult to sneak-up on them, unless you move extremely fast. Hoppers intensely dislike surprises and are likely to lash out wildly with their stinging-tentacles or spells if startled, attacking everyone and everything within a 10' radius for 2d4 damage, Save at -1 or suffer Paralysis for 1d4 Turns.

 They are natural Dreamers, and rarely pay any attention to the waking worlds, preferring to leave that aspect of their existence to their instincts in a form of inspired automatism, making it very difficult to communicate with them beyond simple empathy or symbolism--they are enthusiastically emotional, but almost completely devoid of rational thought.

Nettle-Jellies progress as Magic-Users, Oneirists or Psychists, but never Clerics. They have the following innate powers: Levitate, ESP, Telepathy, and Detect Weak Point, which they can use at will. They also have a random selection of spells appropriate to their class by HD/level. Nettle-Jellies do not use spell-books, but instead culture their spells like psychic pearls within the pools of their shared dreamspace. Their spells also tend to be incredibly idiosyncratic and self-referential, and thus nearly impossible for anyone else to learn, let alone attempt to cast.

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Source: These hopping invertebrate hunters along the coastal regions of distant blood-red seas were inspired by The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, with a liberally-mutated bit of Chrysaora achylos tossed in for good measure.

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Lesser Purple Clouds (Lurid Vapors)

"Alone that same day I began my way southward, and for five days made good progress. On the eighth day I noticed, stretched right across the south-eastern horizon, a region of purple vapour which luridly obscured the face of the sun: and day after day I saw it steadily brooding there. But what it could be I did not understand."

The Purple Cloud, by M. P. Shiel

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Lesser Purple Cloud (Lurid Vapors)
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (gaseous form)
Armor Class: 7 (Cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons)
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 1
Damage: 3d6 per round due to poison/suffocation
Save: F8
Morale: 11

Malevolent and malicious, Purple Clouds are toxic aerial horrors that have lain waste to entire worlds. They spread intensely poisonous gasses before them, killing-off nearly every living thing

with an insatiable, implacable malice that encompasses entire worlds.

Lesser Purple Clouds prowl the ruins of dead worlds like apocalyptic gods or hungry beasts searching for their next victim. They hold uneasy dominion over these places that they have poisoned, where once life flourished and now the Red Weeds are overgrowing everything. It seems that only vermin, fish and plants escape the gaseous wrath of the Purple Clouds.

The few reports recovered from various Dead Worlds by Foragers, Scavenger-scholars and others regarding Purple Clouds agree on only three things: 1) Whatever they are, they are purple and seem to be composed mostly of some sort of toxic vapor, possibly cyanide or something related; 2) The toxic gasses emitted by the Purple Clouds tend to stink of spoilt peaches or almonds, the scent is said to be unmistakable and one should seek to avoid it at all costs; 3) They appear to be actively hostile and possibly sentient in some bizarre fashion, leading some scholars into much pointless conjecture as to how this might be possible.

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Source: These Purple Clouds are inspired by M.P. Shiel's The Purple Cloud which is another Last Man on Earth type of post-apocalyptic novel that takes place after a vast Purple Cloud wipes out most of the world's population. The Purple Cloud of the novel originated underground, having been released into the atmosphere by way of a volcanic out-gassing event. The protagonist survives the poisoning of the world due to his having gone to the North Pole. upon returning as the sole survivor of his expedition, he finds everyone else dead, before going off the deep end and burning down most of the world's cities, primarily because he's bored and silly. It is possible that he was driven mad due to all the potted meat he'd been eating, but really, he's a selfish, amoral and unlikable asshat even before heading off to the Arctic, so maybe he was always a bit tetched. Oh and later on he discovers another survivor, a young woman, and that sets off pseudo-Biblical delusions of re-populating the world with his and her descendants. The only thing I personally liked about the novel was the Purple Cloud itself...

You can find a copy of The Purple Cloud via Project Gutenberg, if you're interested, or you might like to try to listen to the audiobook version via LibriVox.

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White Beast (Red Bestiary)

"We perceived something white lying on the ground, but could not immediately make out what it was. At length we saw that it was the carcass of the strange animal with the scarlet teeth and claws which the schooner had picked up at sea on the eighteenth of January. Captain Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose of stuffing the skin and taking it to England. I remember he had given some directions about it just before our making the island, and it had been brought into the cabin and stowed away in one of the lockers. It had now been thrown on shore by the explosion; but why it had occasioned so much concern among the savages was more than we could comprehend. Although they crowded around the carcass at a little distance, none of them seemed willing to approach it closely. By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a circle around it, and, no sooner was this arrangement completed, than the whole of the vast assemblage rushed into the interior of the island, with loud screams of Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by Edgar Allen Poe

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White Beast

No. Enc.: 1d4
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6+
Attacks: 2 or 1
Damage: 1d6/1d6 (Claws) or 2d4 (Bite)
Save: F6
Morale: 11

Special: White Beasts Move Silently (75%), and Hide (80%) within arctic or boreal environments, irrespective of shadows. They also gain a +2 bonus to hit if they manage to attack with surprise. They are consummate ambushers. They are also highly resistant, if not immune to most poisons.


Red in tooth and claw, the great white beasts roam far and wide across the frozen wastes surrounding the polar regions of many worlds that are officially listed as 'dead.' These creatures endure tremendous hardship, persist in the face of incredibly daunting prospects, and abide within the barren wilderness. Predators and scavengers, they present a formidable challenge to any who would attempt to cross over into their fiercely defended territories and hunting grounds. They feed upon fish, crabs and other sea life, as well as anything they can run down and kill on the ice such as various types of penguins and/or adventurers wandering about lost after blizzards and the like. Confirmed man-eaters, these things appear to prefer man-flesh to any other sort of meat and will go to incredible lengths to get past any and all defensive measures to dine upon human flesh.

These beasts appear to have survived upon worlds devastated and depopulated by the Purple Clouds. Some scholars believe that the White Beasts may be somehow immune or resistant to the toxins produced by the Purple Clouds, making them invaluable as subjects for study and evaluation by means of dissection and so forth. Of course no one takes seriously the crack-pot theories and half-baked claims that these things are in any way related to the Gnoph-Beasts, any more than they are some kind of aberrant ursine or degenerate 'polar ape' such as the Nickel Dreadfuls do so love to go on and on about despite any definitive proof or evidence of their existence. The samples taken from carcasses brought back by the Parzguin Expedition into the brightest heart of the Glowfield were supposed to have conclusively proven that these beasts are indeed a unique species unto themselves, but most of their samples were lost in a fire that gutted their laboratory and warehouse, so the question remains open and myriad unproven theories abound.

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Babes in the Woods (Red Bestiary)

"Beware the Babes in the Woods they said. Like some infants in the underbrush are anything to worry about..."

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Babes in the Wood
No. Enc.: 2
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 40' (20')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 1+
Attacks: Fear or 1d4x2 (Ghostly Scratching)
Damage: 
Save: MU 1
Morale: 12

Vengeful, restless spirits of young children cruelly murdered by infelicitous relatives, Babes in the Wood tend to haunt lonely back-roads, dismal glades and neglected homesteads. They tend to appear like translucent little children made up of milky-smoke, who come out at dusk or dawn to play, but sometimes can be encountered in a particularly gloomy or dimly-lit spot. At first they laugh and giggle playfully, but once they get within 10' of their intended victim they begin to weep and wail and scream uncontrollably. Anyone caught within 10' of them must then make a Save or suffer the effects of magical Fear. If one persists through the Fear effect to attempt to attack the Babes, only magical, silver or Plattnerized bronze weapons will affect these twisted little spirits, and then only do half damage. The Babes will focus their scratching attacks on anyone seeking to harm them, causing 1d4x2 damage, and negating all benefit of any DEX mods or metal armor. The wounds caused by the Babes heal at one quarter the normal rate and require a Blessing to avoid becoming infected.

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Source: Babes in the Woods or The Children in the Wood is a traditional children's tale, and as such is fairly morbid, consisting as it does an account of the murder of a pair of witless waifs out in the woods by their supposed benefactor and protector, in some cases an uncle. The excellent collection 'More English Fairy Tales' by Joseph Jacobs contains a version of the 'The Children in the Wood' story that is in the Public Domain and available via Wikisource.

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Archival Abominations: Creeping Baby Doll

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I found this image while researching some things in the U.S. National Archives on Flickr. It's in the public domain, so I thought that I would share it and stat it up as a creepy-crawly sort of thing for Wermspittle while I was at it.

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Creeping Baby Doll
No. Enc.: 3d4 (3d12)
Alignment:  (20%) Neutral / (80%) Chaotic
Movement: 15' (5')
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1+
Attacks: 1 (See Below)
Damage: 1d4
Save: As zero-level human
Morale: 12 (don't know any better...)

Forgotten toys left to rot beneath the rubble of abandoned warehouses and factories after the aerial bombardment now referred to as the Great Leveling, these minor automatons have gone strangely feral. Their once gaily painted faces are besmirched and smeared with blood and grime. Most of them are lacking their glass eyes, or have been somewhat mutilated in the course of their crawling free of the wreckage. But their tiny, sharp teeth work just fine and they will gnaw upon anything that comes into reach of their chubby little hands.

Their outer-skin is mostly composed of some sort of organic celluloid that is incredibly flammable, and easily set aflame, however doing so only allows the vicious scamps to inflict 2d4 damage from smudging their burning, sticky gobs of non-flesh against their intended victims. The internal workings are quite simple and very durable and can only be completely destroyed with a natural '20.' Otherwise, even if reduced to zero hit points, the little terrors will regain one hit point per ten minutes until they're ready to gnaw away on someone all over again.

If in the course of an encounter one of these dolls inflicts in excess of 20 hit points of damage, they go inert for 1d4 turns, after which they must void their internal chamber, forming a 10'x10' patch of greasy-sticky-nasty gore that reduces movement for non-dolls by one-half with a base 30% chance of falling if anyone attempts to fight while standing upon this gruesome discharge.

There are other things crawling out from under those ruined buildings...

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Beware The Scarlet Plague (Wermspittle)

The heart began to beat faster and the heat of the body to increase. Then came the scarlet rash, spreading like wildfire over the face and body. Most persons never noticed the increase in heat and heart-beat, and the first they knew was when the scarlet rash came out. Usually, they had convulsions at the time of the appearance of the rash. But these convulsions did not last long and were not very severe. If one lived through them, he became perfectly quiet, and only did he feel a numbness swiftly creeping up his body from the feet. The heels became numb first, then the legs, and hips, and when the numbness reached as high as his heart he died. They did not rave or sleep. Their minds always remained cool and calm up to the moment their heart numbed and stopped. And another strange thing was the rapidity of decomposition. No sooner was a person dead than the body seemed to fall to pieces, to fly apart, to melt away even as you looked at it. That was one of the reasons the plague spread so rapidly. All the billions of germs in a corpse were so immediately released...

The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London.

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Calmly, Death Comes in Red
It arrived in the South Guard House of the Inner Ramparts in early summer. Some forager or scavenger returning from beyond the Weak Point fell into convulsions while their papers were being checked. He was dead inside of ten minutes. His body practically melted before it even reached the cobblestones. Then the members of the Wall Guard who had been near him started to show signs of a reddish rash-like discoloration. They went into convulsions. They died. Their bodies dissolved into bloody messes of corruption. Then those a little farther out were struck. The eerie thing about it all was how absolutely calm everyone was, up until they collapsed.

Outside the South Guard House panic ensued. The Wall Guard Commandant acted quickly. No one was allowed to leave the South Guard House. He ordered flame-throwers and mitrailleuses to be brought up from the other Guard Houses. He might not have bothered. No one survived long enough to get very far.

A cordon has been established. Three hundred feet out from the main entrance to the South Guard House is a Kill Zone. Nothing that goes in can ever leave. No one comes back from this place. Not under any circumstance. The area surrounding the South Guard House is extensively mined, strung with constriction-wire, and very well covered by every available weapon the Wall Guard has within their arsenal.

Every autumn a few small gatherings of religious misfits petition the Commandant for safe passage into the Southern Containment Zone. They rarely come back. Those that do, never leave the cordoned-off section. The galvanic weapons appropriated from the Sewer Militia have come in handy on more than one occasion.

Each year the Commandant of the Wall Guard must face repeated attempts to open-up the South Guard House. Surely the plague is no longer a threat, say those who stand to gain by rescinding the travel restrictions. It has been long enough. The plague is dormant. No new cases have been reported in decades, at least not officially. Of course that might be due to the revision to the standard medical texts that have re-labeled the Scarlet Plague as either a lethal red rash or some similar innocuous sounding bit of jargon, allowing the record to appear spotless, despite any inconvenient outbreaks. Besides, there's rarely any way to prove that it was the so-called Scarlet Plague and not some form of the Vile Transformation...

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The plague takes 1d6x10 minutes to kill those who fail their Save. First there is a red rash, followed by fever and sometimes convulsions, then the victim slips into a coma-like state and dies. Victims' bodies decompose almost immediately, leaving behind a gory mess that remains infectious for 1d6 days. They remain perfectly calm through the entire process.

A successful Save indicates that the victim experiences the rash, fever and eerie calmness, but have the option of sacrificing 1 point of CON to gain an additional roll to Save. Each such attempt incurs a cumulative penalty of -1 on the Save. Whether they succeed or fail, the CON point is permanently lost. Those exposed can use as much of their CON as they like trying to get a successful Save. Those who have exceedingly bad luck and manage to hit zero become Bloody Bones Servitors. They should also consider getting new dice. Anyone surviving the Scarlet Plague remains marked by the red mottling, though the rash will recede. They are also noted for being very calm, almost emotionless, and have a +2 bonus on all Saves versus emotion-based spells and effects, such as Fear.

The spell Cure Disease will only be effective during the onset of the plague, once a victim falls into a coma, no spell will stop the disease. Those who succumb to this plague cannot be Raised, except as undead skeletons.

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The Scarlet Plague by Jack London is a post-apocalyptic science fiction story that describes the collapse of civilization in the wake of a horrific epidemic that spreads far and wide before anyone can do anything about it. The survivors are reduced to barbarism, forced to eke out a nomadic existence in the rapidly returning wilderness. Grim, cruel and ignorant, the feral children who have become the masters of the Earth in the wake of the Scarlet Plague do not believe in the tales of their elders who still remember a time before it all went to hell. The lights have really gone out, everything has been lost, and this is a somewhat depressing story without any attempt at a happy ending. It's not at all what I was expecting from the author of The Call of the Wild. Maybe it's because I'm getting older now, but I found this far more engaging than I probably would have twenty years ago. It also provides an interesting alternative/parallel to Lord of the Flies...

The Scarlet Plague, as well as many of Jack London's other books are available at Project Gutenberg. You can also read it online. There's a nicely done synopsis of the novel at the Boston Globe, if you don't have the time or patience to read the novel itself.

You can also listen to The Scarlet Plague at Libri Vox.

Public Domain Day, 2014

Today, January 1st, 2014, is not only New Year's, it's also Public Domain Day. We only just learned about Public Domain Day thanks to Satyre over at the Fame & Fortune blog. Satyre has a couple of very good links at his post. The free pdf he points out over at the PublicDomain.org site is quite interesting for any of us who work with things from the Public Domain. Click on over and see for yourself.

Happy New Year

&

Happy Public Domain Day!

Saiitii Manifestations in Wermspittle (Red Bestiary)

The development must have been going forward through centuries, to have produced such a monstrosity. It was a true instance of Saiitii manifestation, which I can best explain by likening it to a living spiritual fungus, which involves the very structure of the aether-fibre itself, and, of course, in so doing, acquires an essential control over the 'material substance' involved in it. It is impossible to make it plainer in a few words...

The Whistling Room, by William Hope Hodgson

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These things are an invasive species of insidious spiritual fungi that infest abandoned properties, empty rooms and forgotten places. Saiitii Manifestations tend to be slow-developing threats that build-up over time. They are also quite intelligent, but along lines very differently ordered than rational human beings. They will often attempt to mislead investigators into believing that they are confronting a poltergeist or something similar, all the while feeding upon their growing confusion, fear and despair. The Saiitii grow fat and powerful on the suffering and turmoil of incarnate beings.

According to the available literature and incomplete records of various intrepid survivors of encounters with these dreadful Manifestations, the Saiitii spirit-fungus may be susceptible to Holy Word (they must Save or be driven into the Near Aethyr, if successful on their Save they suffer 1d6 damage per Level of Cleric. They gain a +1 bonus on such Saves per HD/Level, so this is most effective when applied early on in the infestation process.)

So far there has been no substantiation of the claim that wounds incurred within the area of effect of a Saiitii Manifestation have an abnormal chance of becoming infected or diseased. Needless to say, any proof in this regard would be of great interest to Unnatural Philosophers and other such scholars who have an interest in these sorts of things.

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Saiitii Manifestations
No. Enc.: 1 (Special)
Alignment: Chaotic (Outer Zones/Evil)
Movement: n/a on physical plane, extend across Lower Astral and Aethyrial regions.
Armor Class: Improves by 1 per Level from a base of 9. See Immunities below.
Hit Dice: Gains 1d8 per Level
Attacks: 1 (Pseudopod, Spell or Persistent Phenomena)
Damage: 1d6 per Level, by Spell, or Pervasive Fear Effect (using a modified version of the Cleric Turning Table), or Persistent Phenomena (see below).
Save: As Cleric of Level equal to HD.
Morale: 11

Special: Saiitii Manifestations grow increasingly impervious to most physical attacks, gaining a +1 to their Save against physical attacks (Failure means half damage, Success means no damage). They perceive events around them through a combined form of Clairvoyance and ESP that operates continually in a ten foot radius that expands an additional ten feet per HD/Level. Saiitii Manifestations cast spells as a Cleric at a Level equal to their HD. They also have a number of Persistent Phenomena that they employ both as a form of defense and as a way to cultivate and create negative emotions upon which to feed.

Their Pervasive Fear Effect is based off of the Cleric Turning Undead Table (see Labyrinth Lord, P. 9). [Results of "-" means those within the thing's area of effect are aware of the all-pervasive atmosphere of psychic oppression but otherwise unaffected. A Result of "T" means that the person affected must make a Save or succumb to the effects of a Cause Fear spell; those who successfully Save suffer a draining of 1d8 hit points per Level of the Manifestation. Results of "D" mean that the victim suffers 1d8 damage per Level of the Manifestation as well as being affected by the Fear effect with no Save. Where a number is indicated, the Manifestation must roll 2d6, as a Cleric would, and roll higher than the number listed to affect the victim. Those so affected are allowed to attempt to Save, otherwise they suffer the effects of a Cause Fear spell.

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Persistent Phenomena
Saiitii Manifestations can maintain one of these area effect Persistent Phenomena for 1 hour per HD/Level. They must cease the Phenomena in order to cast spells or use another form of attack.

1. Sporadic Mad Piping: Inflicts a -1 penalty to Saves against madness and insanity every hour exposed. 
2. Contemptuous Hooning Mockeries: Disrupts concentration, makes it impossible to regain spells while in effect. Clerics exposed to this effect must make a Save every hour they are exposed or suffer a complete loss of all spells for one hour. Clerics cannot recover their spells while this Phenomena is in effect, and they must leave the area of effect for 1d4 hours and it is strongly recommended that they make use an Atonement or Bless to facilitate the complete recovery of their spells, preferably from another Cleric.
3. Seemingly Incessant Whistling: Causes a cumulative -1 penalty to all Saves versus Fear Effects. Also deranges victim's sense of the passage of time, causing those affected to feel as though minutes were hours or vice versa. This time distortion effect randomizes the ongoing healing process of those affected, as well as spell recovery rate, and rest. Fighters and other action-oriented characters must make a Save each hour or become restless and agitated, with a cumulative 20% chance to go berserk.
4. Pernicious Whispering Echoes: Disturbing voices at the very threshold of awareness make sleep impossible, cause a -1 penalty to Morale every hour exposed, and reduce any CHAR Bonus a character might have by -1 each hour as well. Spell-casters (other than Clerics) must Save or suffer a form of paranoia coupled with intense dread; they must make a Save to cast any spells while they remain in the area of effect of the Manifestation. This effect will pass within 1d4 hours of no longer being in the area of effect. Optional: missing the Save could result in a spell casting mishap...

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Eight Spells Attributed to Saiitii Manifestations

Brutally Malignant Note
Level: 3
Duration: instantaneous
Range: 10' per HD/Level of caster.
Causes all exposed to suffer a -3 penalty to Initiative, -2 penalty to all Saves, and a -1 penalty to Hit/damage rolls for one hour. The Manifestation can repeat this effect once per day per HD/Level.

Create Malignancy
Level: 4
Duration: Permanent
Range: 10' per HD/Level of caster.
This spell spreads the Saiitii fungal infestation by one cubic foot for every 20 hit points the caster has drained from victims. Once cast, the Saiitii entity has a 30% chance to gain one HD or Level. The cost in terms of hit points drained increases by a cumulative 20 per casting, even if the spell fails to give the creature an increase in HD/Level. Saiitii Manifestations can only cast this spell once per month.

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In some cases, it is suspected that certain instances of Saiitii Manifestations have been able to improve their intrinsic HD without going up in Level, but this deviation from observed practice has yet to be acceptably verified.

Fist of Shadows
Level: 2
Duration: instantaneous.
Range: 10' per HD/Level of Caster.
Caster forms a massive, shadowy fist to strike out at victims. The fist is equal to a +1 weapon for purposes of determining a successful hit. It inflicts 1d4 damage per HD/Level of the caster, however the victim gets a Save, success indicating only half damage is taken.

Fungal Growth
Level: 2
Duration: 6 Turns
Range: 10' per HD/Level of Caster.
All non-magical fungi within area of effect expand and grow rapidly, producing a host of troubling shapes, disturbing stains and a foul-smelling region surrounding the caster that lingers until purged by fire, acid or spells.

One Mad Yell
Level: 3
Duration: 6 Turns per HD/Level of Caster.
Range: 10' radius.
Victims must Save at -2 or suffer the effects of both Cause Fear and Confusion spells for the duration of the spell.

Residual Depletion
Level: 2
Duration: 1 day per HD/Level of Caster.
Range: 10' per HD/Level of Caster.
Those exposed to this effect lose all bonuses from exceptional attributes, including their Prime Attribute for 1 day, per HD/Level of the caster. This draining effect can be immediately remedied by resorting to a Bless spell.

Shadow Surge
Level: 2
Duration: instantaneous.
Range: 10' per HD/Level of Caster.
Causes all shadows in area of effect to coalesce and flow rapidly towards target. Those struck by the condensed shadow-stuff must make a Save or suffer effects of Cause Fear spell. Successful Save means that the victim gains a +1 bonus to subsequent Saves. Failure causes a lingering -1 penalty to such Saves that persists for 1 day per HD/Level of caster.

Spore Barrier
Level: 2
Duration: 2 rounds per HD/Level of Caster.
Range: 10' per HD/Level of Caster.
Forms a fetid, shimmering haze of spores that gum-up lanterns, surround torches and open flames with smoky, choking clouds that reduce visibility and movement by 50%.

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"Once, about midnight, I did break the seal on the door, and have a quick look in; but, I tell you, the whole Room gave one mad yell, and seemed to come toward me in a great belly of shadows, as if the walls had bellied in toward me.Of course, that must have been fancy. Anyway, the yell was sufficient, and I slammed the door, and locked it, feeling a bit weak down my spine. You know the feeling."

The Whistling Room

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The Saiitii Manifestations originally appeared in William Hope Hodgson's excellent Carnacki the Ghost Finder series as the source of a peculiar form of haunting as detailed in the case of The Whistling Room. Hodgson has had a tremendous influence upon our work on Wermspittle, Zalchis and other projects. His novels The Nightland (at ProjectG) and The House on the Borderlands (at ProjectG) are incredible, we love them both dearly, but they are only two of the amazing stories Hodgson produced before an untimely death. Besides Project Gutenberg, you can find a lot of his work on Wikisource. His Carnacki stories are some of the best in the Psychic Detective genre and we highly recommend them to anyone interested in things pertaining to investigative horror, ghost-hunting, etc., whether at the table in a game or fiction. Carnacki is very much like a Sherlock Holmes of the supernatural. You can find most of the Carnacki tales online at Project Gutenberg, or you can click over to Mr. Rowland's wonderful forgotten Futures site and take a look at what he has done with the Carnacki tales for his Forgotten Futures game. It's really quite good and we're hoping to get the opportunity to play in a FF game one of these days. You might also enjoy clicking over to the Nightlands website and the William Hope Hodgson blog, both are quite excellent resources for all things Hodgsonian. And yes, we are still at work on a series of digital paintings inspired by Hodgson's Nightland, so that one work-in-progress that we posted last December won't be so lonely for much longer.

We cannot over-state Hodgson's overall impact and influence on Wermspittle and his works are some of the first entries we've added to the Vermiform Appendix; our list of influences and references for Wermspittle that somewhat parallels the Appendix N of classic D&D. You'll be seeing more Hodgsonian inspired monstrosities and fungus-things in the weeks ahead as we finally get a lot of the accumulated back-log of old drafts posted once and for all...

Blunderbore

Blunderbore
No. Enc.: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 8
Attacks: 1
Damage: 3d6 (Heavy Club) or 4d6+3 (Massive Sword or Heavy Hammer)
Save: F7
Morale: 11

Special: When Agitated, a Blunderbore gains a second attack every other turn, and they cause double damage on any successful roll of 19 or 20 to hit.

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They don't throw stones; Blunderbore prefer to thrash their opponents with a stout piece of wood, say a section of an old elm tree. They carry weapons, once they've been able to acquire something suitable, but they prefer not to nick-up their blades on tiny ones. Unless provoked.

They are uncouth, loud and prone to bouts of incredibly noxious dyspepsia. They insist on eating things that do not always agree with them. They also have no qualms about devouring those who do agree with them. If they can catch them.

Slow-witted...they know that they are not as smart as others. What they lack in terms of intelligence, they try to make-up in terms of stubbornness and determination. They entertain dim, slightly distorted ambitions of sorts. They'll regale their prisoners with long, tedious, drawn-out accounts of such things as they'd really rather be doing once they've managed to stoutly secure their prisoners. More than one such prisoner has opted for suicide in order to escape the never-ending inane prattling of a Blunderbore. They rarely notice.

They do not give up. Not often, never easily. They'll lose interest and take a nap, but they're probably faking it. They'll sometimes strike a bargain to be done with some disagreeable business, but they won't always stick to the agreement.

They operate alone. Outcasts from the other Giants. Never inquire about such things; it aggravates them terribly and an agitated Blunderbore is a terrifying thing indeed.

Blunderbores have been a regular feature in numerous fairy tales ever since appearing in Jack the Giant Killer and going on to appear in several other stories, usually coming to a bad end...